1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pipe coupling comprising a socket provided with stopper members which are fitted in their corresponding slits formed at the plug-connected front end of the socket so as to freely come into and out of the slits in the radial direction of the socket, and a plug provided with a stopper groove round it, wherein the plug can be freely detachably connected into the socket by stopping or holding the stopper members in the stopper groove by means of a sleeve fitted on the plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of pipe couplings of this kind, the slits formed at the plug-connected front end of the socket and the stopper members fitted in the slits are usually arranged to prevent the stopper members from coming out of the socket into it. However, they are not arranged to prevent the stopper members from coming out of the socket outside it. In order to prevent the stopper members from coming out of the socket outside it, therefore, the sleeve fitted on the socket is used. The sleeve achieves two functions of pressing the stopper members to connect the plug into the socket and of preventing them from coming out of the socket outside it.
According to the conventional pipe couplings, their automatic assembling becomes impossible and their assembling work becomes troublesome because the stopper members cannot be held in the slits in the course of their being assembled. Further, when it is intended that the connection of the socket and the plug can be instantly made by one hand, their structure becomes complicated, thereby making their assembling work more troublesome and their cost higher.